The Kremlin declared its readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict and did not rule out a meeting between Putin and Zelensky

Russian President Vladimir Putin does not rule out a personal meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but such a meeting would only be possible after “the necessary work at the expert level” and progress in talks between delegations.

This was stated by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Peskov emphasized that Russia still considers a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Ukraine to be the preferred option.

Earlier, Putin said that Moscow is prepared to wait if Kyiv believes the time for negotiations has not yet come. In response, Zelensky said he is ready to meet with the Russian leader at any time, as he believes Putin personally makes the key decisions and that delegation-level talks are ineffective without a direct meeting between the two presidents.

On the same day, Peskov also confirmed the possibility of Putin meeting with American businessman Steve Witkoff this week and declined to comment on Donald Trump’s statements regarding the redeployment of nuclear submarines to Russia’s borders, noting only that they are already in combat readiness.